OK now that we’ve gotten that out of our system – it’s Season 9, hennies! Yes, Lady Gaga is here. And she’s great. Her presence really amps up the episode.

And there’s so much going on this episode that we need to just get to it. AMIRIGHT.

First impressions: The entrances are where we form our first opinions on the queens. It’s an important moment that sets the tone for each story. And a trio of queens are immediate standouts.

Valentina: She is “very theatrical and always very Latina” and an “undiscovered superstar.” She’s also just 25 and has been doing drag for 10 months. And she’s that polished? I’m here for it. Valentina strikes me as someone who could be a real force.

Eureka: A pageant queen “serving pure catfish.” I am in LOVE. IN LOVE.

Nina Bo’nina Brown: Her mouse dominatrix outfit is everything. And she’s different from a lot of what we’ve seen on the show.

The remaining girls fall somewhere in the middle. Charlie Hides is a celebrity impersonator who is “rude, crude, socially unacceptable.” But we don’t see much of that at all. Farrah Moan fills the Jade Jolie slot. Sasha Velour is giving me Max vibes. Shea Couleé = Dida Ritz. Trinity Taylor and Kimora Blac serve body but are going to have to give much more very quickly.

Trinity, a pageant queen, says there is “astigmatism with pageant queens.”

Astigmatism.

And then there’s Jaymes Mansfield.

Gaga makes a legendary entrance, posing as one of the competing queens. Once she’s reealed, faces melt and explode and freak out and what a time to be alive.

Eureka breaks down in tears and says Gaga saved her from death: “You allow us to be who we are.”

“Drag has for me been an opportunity to leave myself when I didn’t wanna be me,” Gaga says. “Drag has just been part of my life for the longest time.”

RuPaul shows up, there’s a “Supermodel” singalong and he promises “more stars, more stunts and more shenanigans than ever before.” MY BODY IS READY.

And then he says no one is going home! Yay! Because we get to know the queens a little better. Boo. Because I’m ready for the drama. But mostly yay.

First challenge? The Miss Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve & Talent Pageant, which includes two categories: a lewk inspired by your home city and Gaga drag.

There’s no Houston queen, again, this season. But I know what I’d wear if it was me.

Can we talk about the fact that RuPaul is NOT in drag during judging? Has this ever happened? What does it mean? (Apparently, it’s a one-time thing.)

Or did he just think the premiere and the two runway looks and the Gaga and the twist were all so much this week that he’d wait? I need to know.

Also that judges’ table. You can see everyone’s legs. TOO MUCH TOO SOON.

Nina easily takes the hometown runway category with her peach of a look. Pun intended. It’s whimsical and witty and smart and just pretty fantastic.

Valentina’s mariachi look is also really strong. But the rest, including all those New York and Vegas looks? Meh.

But I know y’all clocked Michelle Visage’s face during Kimora’s runway. You in danger, girl.

Michelle is just WAITING for next week to take Kimora down a peg.

Jaymes describes herself as “a Tejano living in Milwaukee.” Right? That’s what she said, right? Is this some sort of ode to Selena’s iconic cow print look?

Girl, I don’t even know.

All the queens serve a relatively good Gaga during the second runway. This is MUCH better than last season’s Madonna catastrophe. And Gaga herself is great at the table. Warm and funny and invested.